"So
the angel swung his sickle
to the earth and gathered
the clusters from the vine
of the earth, and threw them
into the great wine press of
the wrath of God."
Revelation 14:19
The Passover service was
over and Jesus departed into
the Garden to pray. It was
called "Gethsemane", meaning
the "olive or wine press."
It was there that Jesus
would contemplate the
magnitude of what He was
about to suffer. In the
garden He would suffer such
mental anguish so as to cry
out to His Father asking if
there was another way to
redeem those held in the
bondage of sin, -"Can
this cup pass from Me?"
Just minutes earlier Jesus
had taken the cup of
redemption and told His
disciples to drink, saying,
-"This
is My Blood of the Covenant
which is poured out for the
forgiveness of sins." It
is clear that the disciples
did not then understand the
full meaning of what that
statement meant as they
drank the wine from that
cup.
In order to give His
disciples the cup of
redemption, Jesus had to
drink from another cup. This
is why He asked His Father
if there was another way.
Jesus would need to drink of
the Lord’s cup of wrath
mixed in full strength in
order to pay the price of
our redemption. He had to
drink in all the sins which
had ever or would ever be
committed.
Let us think for a moment
and consider what was in
that cup. Allegorically
speaking, every manner of
sin and every vile thing was
in that cup. Child
molestation, murder, abuse,
hatred, abortion, war, and
even child sacrifice was in
that cup.
The Bible says that in order
to save us, Jesus had to
become sin -even becoming
the curse. (2 Cor.5)
Symbolically, He had to
become a murderer, a child
molester, a witch, a
fornicator and even a Priest
of Satan, etc, in order to
save the like of their sins.
This is what Jesus saw as He
looked into the cup of God’s
wrath. Oh, what He must have
endured in the wine press
that night. He who knew no
sin had to become sin to
save us. What a sacrifice He
made. What an awesome and
deep love He has for us. We
love Him because He first
loved us.
